"Water has been a big part of my life," Beach told a California TV station.

That's putting it mildly.

Beach was a tough Santa Monica, Calif., teen who got into scrapes with the law and was kicked out of high school "for mouthing off," he said in a 2008 interview. He put himself through college by working as a bartender at a Tampa strip club. By the time he'd graduated from the Stetson College of Law, he was smoking cigarettes like he was a '40s movie detective.

Finally, in his 30s, he gave up smoking cold turkey and started swimming, and credits those decisions with his long life. He's now considered one of America's most distinguished masters swimmers. He's also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and traveled the globe.

He also swam the Alacatraz-to-San Francsco route before -- for a race 40 years ago.

Incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman and former Mayor Rick Baker debate in front of a live television audience during the City of St. Petersburg Mayoral Debate at the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg July 25. The event is presented by the Tampa Bay Times and Bay News 9.

The Tampa Bay chapter of the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida on Monday endorsed St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman for re-election.

The group in a press release said that Kriseman has been at the “forefront of significant and meaningful environmental policy” and understands that “climate change from global warming is a real, man-made threat to the people and property of St. Petersburg.”

By contrast, they called out Kriseman’s main opponent, former mayor Rick Baker, for holding a “destructive, ultra-conservative view of uncertainty about global warming.”

Incumbent Mayor Rick Kriseman and former Mayor Rick Baker debate in front of a live television audience during the City of St. Petersburg Mayoral Debate at the Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg July 25. The event is presented by the Tampa Bay Times and Bay News 9.

The Tampa Bay chapter of the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida on Monday endorsed St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman for re-election.

The group in a press release said that Kriseman has been at the “forefront of significant and meaningful environmental policy” and understands that “climate change from global warming is a real, man-made threat to the people and property of St. Petersburg.”

By contrast, they called out Kriseman’s main opponent, former mayor Rick Baker, for holding a “destructive, ultra-conservative view of uncertainty about global warming.”

Ali said he liked former Mayor Rick Baker, but thought the city had evolved since Baker’s tenure 2001-10.

“I like the direction the city is moving with Kriseman,” Ali told the Tampa Bay Times.

Ali said he thought neither Kriseman or Baker would get more than 50 percent of the vote on Aug. 29. The presence of Jesse Nevel, Theresa “Momma Tee” Lassiter, Paul Congemi and Anthony Cates III on the ballot will make reaching that threshold difficult, he said.

“I think they’ll go on to Nov. 7,” Ali said, referring to the date of the general election.

The Muslim Association held its first Iftar dinner in June with Kriseman as host. The event drew about 640 people of all faiths, Ali said.

Kriseman’s leadership involving that dinner made it a success, Ali said.

Ali said he thinks St. Petersburg voters need to hear the opinion on the race from multiple perspectives.

Murphy's endorsement is coveted by both campaigns. He told the Tampa Bay Times earlier this month that he still hadn't made a decision in what he described as an important electoral race that has generated very strong feelings on both sides.

Deveron Gibbons, a financial executive and former mayoral candidate who suports Baker, said Murphy's support didn't compare to the influence wielded by the pastors who back Baker.

"Pastor Murphy is a very influential guy in the community," Gibbons said. "But when 40 very influential pastors in the community endorse Baker? Those endorsements mean a lot.

"This late in the game does Pastor Murphy's endorsement matter at all?" …

An email sent from Water Reclamation Facilities manager Charlie Wise to other high-ranking officials in the Water Resources Department in March 2015 ended up in a U.S Enviromental Protection Agency investigative file that provided another chapter in the city's nearly two-year sewage saga.

The email is significant because it shows Wise's concern about higher-than-anticipated flows arriving in the Southwest Plant by Eckerd College as the city gradually shut down the waterfront Albert Whitted sewage plant.

Four months after Albert Whitted's closing, the first of what would end up being a citywide total of 200 million gallons of sewage spilled because of high flows at the Southwest plant.

Some readers have been curious who other officials were beside then-director Steve Leavitt. Former assistant director Dwight Wilson and Water Resources officials Janet DeBiasio, John Parks and Wise's brother George "Kenny" Wise received the email

Kriseman will probably highlight Baker’s stance on climate change, which is that man plays a role in a changing climate but no one knows how much (scientists would undoubtedly disagree). Baker, however, said he favors reducing carbon emissions regardless.

But one issue dear to many environmentalists’ hasn’t gotten much of a hearing in the over-heating mayoral race yet: recycling.

Yet it is an issue that divides the records of Baker and Kriseman more so than anything else.

Baker, who served from 2001-10, fought efforts to implement curbside recycling. Kriseman made such a program a priority and the city launched its recycling effort for single-family homes in June 2015. …

Now, both Baker and Kriseman have videos up giving their views on affordable housing and public safety. The "You asked, They answered" series features residents asking questions and the two Ricks responding in a planned five-part weekly series.

As mail ballots go out Tuesday, the campaigns are in overdrive making their pitches. Also Tuesday, the live hour-long televised debate between Kriseman and Baker will air on Bay News 9 at 7 p.m.. The Tampa Bay Times is a sponsor of the event at the Palladium, which has generated a fair share of controversy.

St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman, left, is seen with Karl Nurse in the combination of two images.

ST. PETERSBURG — City Council member Karl Nurse has endorsed Mayor Rick Kriseman.

That’s welcome news for the incumbent Democratic mayor who is engaged in a tough reelection battle with former mayor Rick Baker.

Nurse is popular among progressives and is a respected voice in city politics. A long stint as a community activist segued into an appointment to City Council in 2008. He has been handily releected to District 6 twice. Nurse is term-limited and his endorsement has been eagerly sought by Kriseman.

Nurse endorded Kriseman on Friday. He emailed his comments to the Tampa Bay Times on Saturday.

“This Spring as the Mayor's race opened, I decided to concentrate on getting as many policies and projects implemented to help our city and watch the campaigns unfold," Nurse wrote.

"St. Petersburg, and particularly my council district is making progress on all fronts. Crime is down. Southside business districts along 4th St S, 22nd St S and 34th St S are all coming back. The three most inner city schools, Melrose and Campbell Park elementaries, and John Hopkins Middle School all raised their grades. …

Signs at North Shore Park in St. Petersburg warn people in September to stay out of the water due to contamination from partially treated sewage released from the city's overwhelmed sewer system.

[LARA CERRI | Times]

ST. PETERSBURG — Last week the City Council learned no criminal charges would result from the up to 200 million gallons of sewage St. Petersburg's sewer system released from 2015-16.

Then on Thursday evening the council unanimously approved a consent order with the state that requires the city to spend $326 million to fix its ailing sewer system.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection slapped the city with the penalty in response to the sewage failures of 2015-16. Council had been scheduled to approve the order at last week's meeting, but tabled it when certain members expressed hesistation about agreeing to the order without knowing how the city will pay for it.

That was still a concern Thursday.

"I'm troubled with some parts of this," City Council member Ed Montanari said, "including the $326 million cost that goes along with this consent order that we need to approve but (without) having the finance plan attached to that."

Most of the $326 million will be spent on improvements to the system's infrastructure over the next several years. It also includes an $810,000 fine levied by the state which the city will be put toward anti-polluation programs. …

The St. Petersburg City Council is expected to approve a consent order later today that requires the city to spend $326 million on improving its sewer system.

That steep bill comes with a sweetener: no state criminal charges related to the city’s nearly two-year-old sewage crisis.

The city’s top litigator, Joseph Patner, emailed council members last week to inform them that he and City Attorney Jackie Kovilaritch met with state officials June 21 for about an hour. The city attorneys and state officials later had two phone conversations.

“We can now inform you that the State Attorney's Office is closing the State investigation initiated by FWC, contingent upon the city entering into a consent order substantially similar to the draft provided. No charges will be brought against the City of St. Petersburg or any employee,” Patner wrote on July 11.

“This concludes all criminal investigations into the sewage discharge issue. Again, no criminal charges have been brought,” he wrote.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said late Wednesday that the investigation is ongoing. An agency spokeswoman was unable Thursday morning to confirm the city’s version. …

ST. PETERSBURG — Mayoral candidate Paul Congemi has made national news for a racial tirade at Tuesday’s mayoral forum when he told supporters of International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement-affiliated candidate Jesse Nevel to “go back to Africa.”

In the midst of a question about opportunities for youth in the city, Congemi veered off topic in a bizarre way:

“Mr. Nevel, you and your people, you talk about reparations. The reparations that you talk about, Mr. Nevel, your people already got your reparations," Congemi said. "Your reparations came in the form of a man named Barack Obama.”

The large contingent of Nevel’s supporters erupted in disbelief and outrage. “Get out of here!” a woman shouted repeatedly.

Congemi didn't stop there: “My advice to you, my advice to you, if you don’t like it here in America, planes leave every hour. Go back to Africa, go back to Africa.” …

Kriseman's claims on money spent on the Albert Whitted sewage plant were exagerated

By CHARLIE FRAGO

Times Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG — In the narrative of the mayor’s race, the 2015 closure of the Albert Whitted sewage plant has been used to assign responsibility for the city’s two-year sewage crisis.

Former Mayor Rick Baker has repeatedly charged that the closure of the plant under the administration of his opponent, Mayor Rick Kriseman, in April 2015 directly led to the massive discharges and spills that started gushing out four months later.

A state report said the closure of Albert Whitted played a key role in the sewage crisis. But Kriseman has blamed it on the 2011 City Council, which voted to close the plant six years ago.

Kriseman recently took that defense one step further:

At a July 6 news conference held with the local Sierra Club chapter, Kriseman suggested to reporters that the city essentially abandoned the Albert Whitted plant after the 2011 council vote. It was left in a state of disrepair, he said, long before he became mayor in 2014. …

An unnamed private cemetery in Hillsborough County has agreed to take Tampa's Confederate monument, according to County Commissioner Victor Crist.

TAMPA — A private cemetery somewhere in Hillsborough County is willing to take Tampa’s Confederate monument if commissioners vote Wednesday to remove it.

The cemetery doesn’t want to be named at this time, Commissioner Victor Crist said, but its board unanimously voted to take it and display it on their grounds.

Crist, who approached the cemetery with the idea, said it’s a 12-acre site that opened in 1911, the same year that officials unveiled Memoria en Aeterna in downtown Tampa. According to Crist, some Civil War veterans are buried there in family plots.

It’s outside the city of Tampa in an area surrounded by wetlands and is not near any black churches, he added. Crist had previously proposed city-owned Oaklawn Cemetery as an destination, but it was rebuffed by Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn in part because of its proximity to St. Paul AME church, a vacant but historic black church, and Greater Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, a large, African American Church.

“They’re excited about this,” Crist said. “It’s a beautiful piece of art, it’s a historical piece, it brings something interesting to that part of the county from a tourism standpoint.” …

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